Lots of eyes to secure school P'burg District considering anonymous-tip program. Monday, May 07, 2007 • By DANIEL HAUSMANN • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | School district administrators are considering a new anonymous tip system that would alert them to potential threats. In the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy and the eighth anniversary of the Columbine massacre, Ken Melveney, president of The Watchful I, is pitching his computer and phone alert system to Phillipsburg. With the system, parents, students or anyone else would be able to submit anonymous tips by Internet or phone to the school district. District administrators as well as police would receive a report on the threat. The system's creators said the program does what traditional security measures can't. "We're talking about student safety," Melveney said. "The metal detector does not stop the kid who commits suicide; it doesn't stop the drug dealer." Phillipsburg Superintendent Gordon Pethick said keeping up with security is a major goal this year. Hiring a security consultant is a preliminary possibility, he said. High school daughter gave birth to idea Melveney, 62, came up with the concept after Columbine. His daughter Nicole was a high school student then and Melveney saw a lack of opportunity for anonymous tipsters to get through to administrators. "At least 80 percent of the time, they tell somebody what they're going to do," Melveney said. Melveney took his concept to a software developer who created the program. Based in Matawan, N.J., The Watchful i has the endorsement of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. Using the system, a tipster can file information under several categories including bomb threat, drug dealing and bullying/bias. The person then fills in as much information as possible. In the case of a bomb threat, the information can immediately be forwarded to an administrator's cell phone. An administrator can then decide if there is a need to close school or delay an opening. The system can immediately phone every parent in the district to notify them of what is going on. Keeping track of those flagged by the system The program also keeps a file on every student who has had a complaint made against them. For Phillipsburg, the cost could be $13,000 annually to cover the district's 3,000-plus students. School security director Bill Merrick said he's in support of getting the system. The anonymity the system allows would lead to more people coming forward, he said. So far, about 10 school districts nationwide have embraced the system, six of which are in New Jersey. Melveney said a number of districts are in negotiations to buy the system including the Miami-Dade School District, the fourth largest in the country. Melveney said 2 percent of calls or complaints districts using the system have received turned out to be false. School board President Paul Rummerfield said he's looking for more input from the school's security team on whether or not current systems address this issue. "I think conceptually it sounds like a good idea," Rummerfield said. "It's a sad commentary on today's society that you have to look for things like this." Reporter Daniel Hausmann can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at dhausmann@express-times.com. © 2007 The Express-Times. Used with permission.